The Cupertino Courier

Masters win national honors

Cupertino's Tsui, Powers rank among top placers

By Dick Sparrer

John McManus could be resting in an easy chair at his home in Sunnyvale.

And Ken Napier could be relaxing on his patio at his Los Gatos home.

Who would blame them? After all, they're both over 70. They've reached retirement age, and they deserve a chance to relax.

But relaxation doesn't come in an easy chair for people like McManus and Napier; it comes from racing around a track.

And the two were doing just that in mid-August, when they got together with other top masters athletes from across the nation for the 1997 National Masters Outdoors Track and Field Championships.

McManus and Napier were just two of the many area placers in the national meet in San Jose that featured former Olympians, world record-holders and college stars.

McManus romped to a third-place finish in the 800 meters in the men's 70-74 age division, stopping the watch at 3:01.00.

Napier placed in a pair of events at the nationals. The Los Gatos speedster breezed to a fourth in the 800 meters in 2:40.59 and added a seventh in the 400 meters in 1:07.18 in the men's 65-69 class.

It was Sunnyvale's Fei-Mei Chou who was the local sensation of the meet, though. The 62-year-old dominated the women's 60-64 division, placing in all six of the events she entered.

Chou came through with a second in the high jump at 1.02 meters, a second in the triple jump at 6.42 meters, a second in the long jump at 2.93 meters, a third in the discus at 16.34 meters, a fourth in the 200 meters in 28.64 and a fourth in the 100 meters in 17.07.

Joe Hurtado and Michael Henry of Sunnyvale were area winners in the national finals.

Hurtado raced to a victory in the 10,000 meters in 38:52:66 and came through with a second in the 5,000 meters in 18:40.00 in the men's 55-59 division.

Henry whirled the hammer 192-10 to outdistance the field in the men's 30-34 division.

Sunnyvale's Bill Dunn was third in the 5,000 meters in 17:01.22 in the men's 50-54 age group, and Pete D'Eliscu soared 8.97 meters in the triple jump to finish seventh in the same division.

Ernest Tsui of Cupertino was fourth in the triple jump at 10.75 meters in the men's 45-49 class, and Bob Powers of Cupertino was fourth in the javelin with a toss of 51.78 meters in the same age group.

Michael Venning of Cupertino added a third in the hammer throw at 147-10 and a fifth in the discus with a toss of 33.70 meters in the men's 35-39 age division.

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